New Member - 170 Aquasport CC

[thill]

Greetings to everyone here!  Glad to have found you.

I'm new to the club, having bought this 17 foot CC at the end of last summer:


 It's a 170 Aquasport in very solid condition, but in need of some cosmetic work.

The powerplant I put on the back:


Yes, it's a 1989 Force 85HP- Salvaged it from an unused, rotten Maxum ski boat. After sitting for 3 years, it fired right up with 3-year old gas and all! I've probably put 50 hours on her so far, and she has run absolutely beautifully!  But after a season and a half, I probably should put some plugs in her.  

Since getting this boat, I haven't touched my 21' Bayliner! (I probably need to sell that one)

I've done a few modifications:
1)  I cut out the "seat" are of the center console to reveal....  STORAGE!  I was told the gas tank was under there, but when fishing wires, I could see through there, and saw nothing but light, so I drilled a small test hole, fished around with a wire, and finally used a jig saw to open her up, and now I have great storage.
2)  I've added a 1500 GPH auto bilge pump to the sump area, for those times I take a wave up the back.  Works GREAT compared to the wimpy 500 gallon pumps I've used in the past
3)  I've added no-feedback steering, and LOVE it.  
4) I tend to go out in rough seas, so I added the stainless Smart Tabs.  I don't like them as much as my Bennetts of the past, but they REALLY DO improve the ride of this boat.  No more need to put someone up in the bow to keep it from bouncing so much.   WELL worth the $95 purchase price on Ebay.
5) I installed a swiveling rail mount for my fishfinder and have it mounted on the center console rail.
6) I'm about to change my pitted aluminum console rail for a stainless one.  Should bounce my fishfinder around less.
7) I installed a new fuse panel and replaced all the fuses with new waterproof ones.
8) I installd 5 vertical rod holders behind the cooler seat and 5 more to the front of the console.  GREAT rod storage!
9) I made a perforated livewell divider for the cooler seat out of plexiglass

This is all I can think of off the top of my head....

I've noticed a few things that you may be able to help me with:

1. Even with no one in the boat, the scuppers take in about 1" of water... Should this boat have a lighter motor, (this 85 is HEAVY) or is this just the way the boat is?

2. This engine idles a little high (@ 1,000RPM or so) and I can't seem to be able to get it down to the 7-800RPM it should be running at. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts, and looking forward to learning more.

-TH

[RickK]

Welcome aboard thill  :!:  :!:
Seems that there is an endless supply of new 170 members  8)
Post some pics of the mods you've made.  Also, what year is she - mid 70s?

[thill]

RickK,
Thanks for the welcome!

She's a 1971, quite vintage.  When I first found out her age, I was worried about soft floor, transom, and so on, but amazingly, although 38 years old, both are completely solid. Can't even find the stringers, due to the foam, but she's solid in a big sea without any noticable flex, so I'm guessing she's fine.

One modification the previous owner installed, that I like...

10) Plexiglass splash guards on either side of the motor,  These things make a BIG difference when a wave hits you in the back:




And just so you know, the stainless plate came with a motor the previous owner had put on, so he put it on...  It's NOT a patch for a soft transom.  I double and triple checked that.  I'm not scared of a transom replacement, mind you, but I definitely want to be sure of what I'm running.

-TH

[Marcq]

Hey TH, welcome aboard   Nice boat you have there, definitely in good shape for her age. First thing I would do if I were you is take off those Aquasport badge     don't throw them away, just  send them to me ;)

Marc..

[thill]

Marcq,

Ha ha ha...  I keep reading about those....   Are you the guy that can replicate them?

Doesn't seem so hard, actually....  Take an old one, wax it, cast a mold out of POP and portland, and then pour an epoxy or poly-based resin into it...  BAM!  New badge.  Spray 2 coats of the color you want, and put it on.

Is there a hot market for these things?  Maybe I could get rich!!!!      

But seriously, it wouldn't be too hard.   Certainly easier than the molds for fishing lures I make...

How much does it cost to simply replace one of them from the factory...  Oh, wait...  there isn't a factory anymore, is there?  Does anyone support Aquasport products anymore???  I see the problem, now...

-TH

[Marcq]

Come on TH !! send it to me  :bounce:

Joke aside, the problem is finding the original one in good shape WHICH YOU HAVE  

I used to make latex mold for fiberglass parts,that latex stuff is super easy to work with, it comes as a liquid, brush it on your part( many coats, like 20), after the last coat, before it sets, put something flat on top to cover all (not to heavy, like a piece of plexi, de plexi wont stick to it, it's just to make the bottom of the mold flat), let fully cure. Now you have a mold that is flexible and will last a long time if you take care of it. The nice thing about that kind of mold, it's the flexibility of the mold, specially for a fragile part. You can buy it at hobby store

I would be a buyer for a set for sure, but for now take it off and put it in a safe :x  That's the first thing I noticed when I saw your boat, The badge  

AH, one can only dream

Oh, I wonder when they stop putting those style of badge on Aquasport

Marc..

[RickK]

What has me wondering is if they made 2 different 170 models that year.  Mine is a liner model with a rod rack "insert where everyone elses from that year and later has the open rod racks. I think it didn't take them long to figure out that most people were not using 6 ft rods and fixed that.
http://www.classicaquasport.com/gallery/data/500/681971_Aquasport_170_floor_repair.jpg
Mine also has a totally different console and a single storage box up front.
http://www.classicaquasport.com/gallery/data/500/68rear_view_of_console.JPG

[thill]

Marcq,
You've got me thinking, here.  Maybe I really do need to make a mold.  I like the mold urethane they sell at UScomposites.com.  They have them from hard to soft.   Only problem, a kit is like $50.  But they make awesome molds, and it's a lot faster than the mold latex. (Which they also sell)

I wonder if I should really mess with this stuff?   Isn't there another guy already set up for it?


RickK,
The inside of your boat looks EXACTLY like the inside of mine... except that you don't have the seat box molded into the front of your console.  Yes, the rod racks are a pain, but if you point them backwards, you can fit a longer rod in there.  I've considered using a hole saw to that front bulkhead area, but will probably never do it.

My console is the exact same shape as yours, but the guy opened up the cutout in the front for a bigger opening.  I'm guessing I have the "deluxe" console that has a seat intergrated into the console.  Probably cost $200 more at the time.

It's dark out, but let me try to go out and take some shots.   Will post back in a little bit.

I'd love to see more shots of yours...

-TH

[thill]

RickK,
Here are a couple of pics I just took:
http://members.purespeed.com/~thill/AQconsole1.JPG
http://members.purespeed.com/~thill/AQconsole2.JPG
http://members.purespeed.com/~thill/AQconsole3.JPG
http://members.purespeed.com/~thill/AQseat.JPG

PLEASE excuse the messy boat!  I came back from fishing, and never got a chance to clean her up due to the storms and schedule.

But I promise that soon, I'll wash her, clean all the old rust stains, and treat her right.
Comparing consoles, I'm wondering if mine is the same width as yours???   Is yours 30" wide at the top where the windshield is?

-TH

[RickK]

Take a close look at the rod rack area.  Notice how on mine I should theoretically be able to unscrew them and take the whole rod rack part of the liner out. Yours has an open look to them and has wood trim.  May have changed them during that model year - these boats were called the 17- "Custom" back then - so..... '72s had the same type you have, so your's must have become the standard. I finally took a hole saw to mine last year on the starboard side top (only took 21 years of owning it to do that   ).
Your fuel tank is still above the sole inside the console, correct?  The console shapes are similiar (if I disregard the seat in front of yours).  I have a different windshield which may have been added by an owner along it's life - you seem to have the stock one with grab rail around it. In '72 or '73 they added a fold forward part of the console so you could access the inside of the console. The top of the console changed in '72.
You do have the single storage in the casting deck too.  They made better use of the casting deck in the following years.
How about the rub rail?  Do you still have the "Green" one with the plastic insert?  I replaced mine with a new rub rail with rope insert making it look newer, then I found this site and found out I should have kept the original.

I do have molds made from my badges and I actually have some extra sets of the badges.  My badges were broken by bait buckets being drug up while idling and who knows what else, so I had to recreate some parts of them before I made the molds. Needless to say, they are not as crisp as if someone made them from an undamaged set but it would take someone that knew exactly what they looked like to see the slight flaws.

[thill]

*****EDIT*****
Rick,
Liner- I took a good look, and my rod area seems exactly the same as yours, with the same liner and wood rodholder inserts and everything.  The only difference I see is that mine has that strip of wood at the bottom, and in yours, it seems to be cut out.  Here is a closer picture of mine, where you can see the end of the liner, where I want to take a hole saw to it:

 
Gas Tank- I have what appears to be the same gas tank, but interestingly, mine is spun 180*, as my fill cap is on the right, not the left.
 
Hatch- The single hatch in the front is not so great, especially the fact that the stupid wood spin-stops don't hold the front in very tight, and it always wants to jump out.   I jammed some shims in there, and it's held for a couple of trips, but if I take them out, it will go right back to the way it was.  
 
Do you know of any way to get to the backs of those bolts that hold the wooden spin-stops?
 
Rub rail- Yes, mine has the original rub rail.  The insert has shrunken a little, and pulled forward at the ends, but I could pull it back down if I cared enough.   I have to look and see if the end cap is on the other side, as the one on the starboard side is gone.
 
Badges- I'll have to take a careful look at my one good badge.  Maybe it's worth molding, maybe not.  It seems that many people would like to buy yours!  How much would you ask for a pair?  What did you make the actual badge from?

Windshield - Actually, if you look, my windshield is simply a flat piece of plexiglass, not the original.   I just found a vendor on Ebay that replicates the factory windshields in 1/4" and 3/8" thicknesses for about $120.  Look here:  I'm about to replace the (factory?) aluminum grab rail in favor of a more rigid stainless one.
 
And by the way, thanks for the discussion.  Learning about these boats in interesting.  Actually makes me want to restore this boat, instead of just using it as a beater.

-TH

[RickK]

Rick,
Liner- I took a good look, and my rod area seems exactly the same as yours, with the same liner and wood inserts and everything.  The only difference is that mine has that strip of wood at the bottom that covers the seam.  Don't I see screw holes in yours, where that strip used to be?  Later today, I'll take better pictures of the area, to be sure.

You can actually put stuff in the bottom of your rod rack area, I can't.  Yours has a recessed area below and above.

Gas Tank- I have what appears to be the same gas tank, but interestingly, mine is spun 180*, as my fill cap is on the right, not the left.

I saw that your fill and vent are on the starboard side of the console.
 

Hatch- The single hatch in the front is not so great, especially the fact that the stupid wood spin-stops don't hold the front in very tight, and it always wants to jump out.   I jammed some shims in there, and it's held for a couple of trips, but if I take them out, it will go right back to the way it was.  
 
Do you know of any way to get to the backs of those bolts that hold the wooden spin-stops?

My spins disintegrated long ago and I couldn't figure out how to get to the backs of the bolts either, so I made new ones from oak, drilled them, sawed them in half and then glued them back together around the bolt. Has worked for about 20 years now.  Maybe cut access panels in the sides of the storage box? I agree it was a sad design and why they wrnt to a different one.  Don't you hate being the first sometimes?  
 

Rub rail- Yes, mine has the original rub rail.  The insert has shrunken a little, and pulled forward at the ends, but I could pull it back down if I cared enough.   I have to look and see if the end cap is on the other side, as the one on the starboard side is gone.
 
Badge- I'll have to take a careful look at my one good badge.  Maybe it's worth molding, maybe not.  It seems that many people would like to buy yours!  How much would you ask for a pair?
 
And by the way, thanks for the discussion.  Learning about these boats in interesting.  Actually makes me want to restore this boat, instead of just using it as a beater.

-TH

There aren't many as old as yours and it looks like you don't have a whole bunch to get her back into her prime.

[thill]

Rick,
I just edited my post above while you were replying.

Yes, I see where mine has that lip below my rod racks.  It tends to collect junk, but it does come in handy.   Does yours have screw holes where there used to be a wood strip on the bottom?  It wouldn't be hard to add it back on.

The biggest problem with this boat is there are a million holes drilled and screwed all over it.  Some of them have plastic caps over them, but it's not too pretty.    I'm planning to eventually fill in all the holes with putty, and then I'll either paint or gelcoat over it for a fresh look.  

But you know how it goes...  talk talk talk, but when it gets down to it, I'd rather be fishing than filling holes!

-TH

[thill]

Here is the link to the company that makes factory replacement windshields:

1970 170 windshield: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Aquasport-1970-17-Ft-New-Smoke-Boat-Windshield_W0QQitemZ160026928575

They can do many models.  You need to give them your make and model, OR you can give them measurements according to a chart they have.  Here is the link to their store:
http://stores.ebay.com/UPD-Plastics

Of course, I have no affiliation, just hoping this is helpful to someone.

-TH